I love to walk and I love to ride my bike. Both forms of exercise not only give me great pleasure, they also serve as therapeutic measures to restore my balance. A good walk or an exhilarating bike ride can often allow me to shed cares and worries, and also provides quiet time to think through problems that have plagued me and for which I can't seem to find any solutions Sometimes after wrestling with a problem or worry, I just get up, take a good walk or a bike ride, and the answer occurs to me while I am spending this time outside away from the difficulty at hand.
I can and do walk in any weather conditions, but biking of course requires decent temperatures and proper road conditions, at least for this little old lady, so I can only bike for several months out of the year.
When I lived in eastern Montana, I could bike where I pleased. The Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project's Main Canal maintenance road offered me an ideal biking path; I could travel for miles in either direction and enjoy myself, meet no one, take in the fresh air, and satisfy my urge to get out and move and enjoy the pleasure of riding a bike.
When people decide to relocate, they often neglect to consider every single factor involved with a move, and must make compensations when they find themselves in different territory. Now that I have moved and settled in Virginia City, I can see serious issues looming with my biking expeditions. Virginia City is built on a hillside. I have yet to find a level road. Roads in this mountain village definitely run uphill or down, no getting around it. Coming from Ennis, a traveler must come through a mountain pass which the locals call 'the hill", which falls off on its way down to this tiny hamlet at a 7% grade, according to the sign, complete with a runaway truck ramp built alongside the road as you appraoch Virginia City. I'm talking a steep incline, folks, a great hill possibly to bike DOWN if your brakes are in top notch shape, but only a lunatic or a Tour de France hopeful would even consider trying to bike UP our little "hill".
Streets in VC continue that obvious slope. Main Street definitely has a steep grade, from one end of town to the other, and that mountainous terrain exists on whichever side of Main Street you happen to traverse. Arriving in VC from Ennis, the main street has an obvious downward slope, and this slope continues for the most part as you travel from Virginia City through Nevada City and on towards Alder. I might consider biking from VC to Alder, but I can't feature pedaling my bike from Alder to VC, unless Rod was waiting for me in Alder and brought me back to VC in the truck. I'm too old and too tired for stunts like that. I'm not sure I would have wanted to make that trek in my foolish youth, when I imagined I could leap over tall buildings in a single bound.
If I am looking for level paths, I can't bike within VC itself. Because this village is built on the side of a hill, a person HAS to go either uphill or down, no matter which direction she may choose. We happen to live on the down side of VC, but that means to even get to the main street, I have to bike, hike, or walk UP, and I am not talking about tiny inclines, I am talking UPHILL. Walking uphill is not a problem, but biking up an incline of any sort is another story.
Side paths and alleyways prove equally as daunting. Every single street lies on a slant, and most of them an obvious slant. This makes biking a true exercise, and an absolutely marvelous aerobic workout, rather than a pleasant excursion and a way to enjoy some fresh air. Even the street I live on does not appear to have much of a slant to it, but it definitely does not run level, as I discovered to my chagrin the first time I biked on it. I left the house and went downhill, and as I kept gaining speed without even pedaling I knew that coming back up this street would require some strenuous effort on my part, possibly more effort than I was prepared to expend.
I may have to reconsider biking, or find a way that I can bike without having a stroke in the process.
Walking, however, provides terrific opportunity here, and that at least makes me smile. I still either walk up or down hill, but it seems easier somehow to walk up a steep 'hill' than it does to propel yourself and a bike up and over the same incline. Walking I have a good chance to get to the top, biking I have no chance whatsoever.
Virginia City has a narrow gauge railroad that runs between VC and Nevada City, The tracks remain empty all winter, but I believe someone runs a train for tourists between VC and Nevada city during the summer tourist season This track makes a great walk, at least in the off season. It begins at the depot in VC and meanders downhill through gorgeous countryside to Nevada City, where the tracks terminate. I have walked from one end to the other and back on many occasions, and this makes a wonderful outing. It provides a peaceful walk, great scenery, the opportunity to possibly spy wildlife, and a way to walk away from the cares and stresses of everyday life.
Another walk I enjoy takes me up a STEEP road that travels higher and higher into the mountains. I generally stop partway up to catch my breath and to look around at the spectacular view. A friend of mine that I met at the Pioneer Bar's free Christmas party for VC residents has a cabin perched at the top of this climb with a spectacular view of VC. She has a composting toilet/outhouse, and as she says, she can sit in this can and SH** on Virginia City. She says her cabin sits 1000 vertical feet above VC, and I believe it when I make that climb. The hike up that hill certainly requires some perseverance.
However, I love hiking to the top of that little trail. The scenery fulfills me, the exercise improves my outlook, and I enjoy the quiet and solitude of the excursion. If my newfound friend happens to be at the cabin (she lives in Bozeman and just comes to the cabin when she can get away) the hike is even more worthwhile as I get to spend quality time with a wonderful lady who has become part of my new support system.
I sometimes don't hike to my friend's cabin, but instead continue up the road into the mountains. Again, it requires some strenuous effort at times but I find the trek incredibly enjoyable. The view at the top can take my breath away.
Another great benefit of this little jaunt upon a'hill'? The return trip is ALL downhill, and takes very little effort to get back to my starting point, compared with the energy I expended to get to the top. I'd rather have an easier return trip than the other way around.
So, my two favorite forms of outdoor exercise – walking and biking - still remain open to me. Walking has presented very few changes, I can continue as I have always done, but I will have to rethink my biking excursions. I will no longer look upon biking as an easy exercise pursuit, and as a simple way of spending some time outdoors. Biking will become a true ;labor of love here in Virginia City, and I will have to carefully map out my routes and search for ways that I can continue to enjoy this form of exercise without killing myself in the process.
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